Easy Coker Airfoil tire change

Last year I had the pleasure of trying to install a Coker tire on an
Airfoil rim. I had a *very* difficult time trying to get the tire on
the rim. I had such a difficult time that I wrote a thread about it:
'Putting a Coker tire on the Airfoil rim' (http://tinyurl.com/48pvc).

When I got home from NAUCC this year I had the pleasure again of
installing a new Coker tire on the Airfoil rim. This time it went
*much* easier.

At the beginning of the 10K at NAUCC I noticed that I had about a 1/2"
cut in the tread of my Coker tire. The cut was in the center area of
the tread. Fortunately it wasn't on the sidewall, and fortunately it
didn't go all the way through the casing. But it was clearly a bad cut
and I was going to have to replace the tire. Bummer. The tire still
has lots of tread left.

This time the tire change was much easier. The trick was switching to a
different rim tape. Last time I used Velox rim tape. The Velox rim
tape is good stuff, but it's rather thick and not very slippery. The
thickness makes it more difficult to install the tire. The lack of
slipperiness makes it more difficult to get the tire to slide all the
way into the center lowest part of the rim channel during the tire
install.

This time I tried 'Rox Ultralight Rim Strip' (http://tinyurl.com/6y4ne).
This rim strip is very thin and very slippery. I'm not sure it would
do well in a super high pressure road bike tire (120 psi to 160 psi),
but for the Coker tire the Rox rim strip should have enough substance to
keep the tube away from the nipples and spokes. A single roll contains
two rim strips which is enough to do two bicycle wheels or one Coker
wheel.

The Rox Ultralight Rim Strip made the Coker tire install sooooo easy. I
did the tire install using two 'Quik-Stik' (http://tinyurl.com/54vrd)
tire levers and a bicycle toe strap. I used the toe strap as a third
pair of hands to hold the tire in the center part of the rim channel
while I used the tire levers on the opposite side of the wheel. Easy.
The Rox rim strip allowed the tire to easily slide all the way into the
center area of the rim channel (where the diameter of the rim is the
smallest). The toe strap held it there. Prying the rest of the tire
over the rim was easy. I think I could have actually pried the rest of
the tire over the rim without any tire lever tools at all if I had to.
Wow!

The big trick is the Rox Ultralight Rim Strip. U-Turn has been using
Salsa rim tape, but I couldn't find the Salsa tape at any local bike
shops. I was able to find the Rox rim strip. I haven't tried the Salsa
tape so I don't know how well it works and how easy the tire install
would be. The Salsa rim tape is thicker than the Rox Ultralight rim
strip so I would expect the tire install using the Rox Ultralight rim
strip to be easier.

No longer am I scared of repairing a Coker flat out on the road. I know
I could do it if I have to.

Rox Ultralight Rim Strips rock!


--
john_childs - Guinness Mojo

john_childs (at) hotmail (dot) com
Gallery: '' (http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/john_childs)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
john_childs's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/449
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/34284

LBS, here I come!

Thanks John


--
Sofa - you - pee - dee

'yea i no allot of mi frends an i r hecka smartr then othr peeple at mi
skool cus we can balense and we can ride farthar then other peeple wich
makes ur bran more exersised an it helps u consentrate an improves ur
mentel stamena' - 1wheelthrilla


'Unicycle Product Reviews' (http://tinyurl.com/368h6) *107* reviews on
*72* products

'London Unicycling Club ' (http://www.brianmackenzie.com/LUC/) (London,
Ontario, Canada)


------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sofa's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/706
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/34284

The last time you changed the Coker tire was in October. How hot was it?
This is August and a hot one at that. I left my Coker in the sun for
about an hour and was able to remove the tire without any tools, I was
just wondering if that made it different for you.


--
muddycycle - Nonchalance

"What can possiby mystify a madman?"
Hegira: Greg Bear
------------------------------------------------------------------------
muddycycle's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/1283
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/34284

In both cases the tire was at indoor temperature. Not enough of a
temperature difference to expand the tire. In both cases it was a brand
new Coker tire.

The big difference really was the rim strip. With the Rox rim strip the
tire slid easily down into the center channel area of the rim. With the
Velox rim tape the tire would get hung up on the edge of the rim tape
and would not slide down. With the Velox rim tape the tire was actually
dislodging the rim tape during the install. It was a real hassle.


--
john_childs - Guinness Mojo

john_childs (at) hotmail (dot) com
Gallery: '' (http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/john_childs)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
john_childs's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/449
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/34284

Now that people are back from UNICON I'll bump this up.

I'm curious if anyone has experience with the Rox Ultralight Rim Strip
in a Coker or any other wheel. The Rox rim strip is really really thin
which kind of makes me nervous about it. It's so thin that it makes you
wonder just how it can hold.

I'm going to wait about a month and then deflate the tire so I can look
at the rim strip to see how it's holding up. Hopefully the rim strip
will be fine and I can stop worrying about it.


--
john_childs - Guinness Mojo

john_childs (at) hotmail (dot) com
Gallery: '' (http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/john_childs)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
john_childs's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/449
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/34284

Now that people are back from UNICON I'll bump this up.

I'm curious if anyone has experience with the Rox Ultralight Rim Strip
in a Coker or any other wheel. The Rox rim strip is really really thin
which kind of makes me nervous about it. It's so thin that it makes you
wonder just how it can hold.

I'm going to wait about a month and then deflate the tire so I can look
at the rim strip to see how it's holding up. Hopefully the rim strip
will be fine and I can stop worrying about it.


--
john_childs - Guinness Mojo

john_childs (at) hotmail (dot) com
Gallery: '' (http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/john_childs)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
john_childs's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/449
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/34284

Now that people are back from UNICON I'll bump this up.

I'm curious if anyone has experience with the Rox Ultralight Rim Strip
in a Coker or any other wheel. The Rox rim strip is really really thin
which kind of makes me nervous about it. It's so thin that it makes you
wonder just how it can hold.

I'm going to wait about a month and then deflate the tire so I can look
at the rim strip to see how it's holding up. Hopefully the rim strip
will be fine and I can stop worrying about it.


--
john_childs - Guinness Mojo

john_childs (at) hotmail (dot) com
Gallery: '' (http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/john_childs)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
john_childs's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/449
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/34284

Now that people are back from UNICON I'll bump this up.

I'm curious if anyone has experience with the Rox Ultralight Rim Strip
in a Coker or any other wheel. The Rox rim strip is really really thin
which kind of makes me nervous about it. It's so thin that it makes you
wonder just how it can hold.

I'm going to wait about a month and then deflate the tire so I can look
at the rim strip to see how it's holding up. Hopefully the rim strip
will be fine and I can stop worrying about it.


--
john_childs - Guinness Mojo

john_childs (at) hotmail (dot) com
Gallery: '' (http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/john_childs)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
john_childs's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/449
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/34284

I took the tire off my Coker last week. When I took the tire off I
noticed that the Rox Ultralight Rim Tape had slipped in a few places and
exposed some spoke hole edges. Not good. It doesn't look like the
adhesive on the tape is strong enough to keep it in place in the Airfoil
rim. Bummer.

I'm not sure what caused the tape to move. I stretched the tape tight
when I installed it. It was in place when the tire was installed back
in August. Then I check it again about a month later and it was still
in good shape (I just deflated the tire and took a peek inside without
removing the tire). Now I check it in April and there were two sections
where the tape had moved over and exposed the edges of some spoke
holes.

Oh well.

I'm trying three wraps of electrical tape now for the rim tape. That
should work OK. Three wraps of electrical tape is a bit thicker than
the Rox tape and it was slightly more difficult to install the tire.
But only slightly more difficult. No great difficulty getting the tire
back on. I hope the electrical tape holds up.

I'm going to try the electrical tape for a month or so and then check it
to see if it's staying in place. If it's good then I'm going to
consider switching to a 29er tube instead of the stock Coker tube. I'm
not going to try a 29er tube until I can find a rim tape solution that
is going to stay in place. The 29er tube won't be as forgiving about
exposed spoke hole edges compared to the stock Coker tube.


--
john_childs - Guinness Mojo

john_childs (att) hotmail (dott) com
Gallery: '' (http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/john_childs)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
john_childs's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/449
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/34284

Electric tape is what i have used for years, use a high quality electric
tape, and I only use two layers and I have never had a problem. Maybe
that's why I had no trouble getting my coker tire on the new bigger
airfoil rim.


--
Tellurider - Dan Wilson

There's a fine line between "Hobby" and "Mental Illness".
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tellurider's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/4972
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/34284